Case Number 14468

HEROES: SEASON 1 (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

Save the cheerleader, save the world.

Opening Statement

The exchange of ideas between visual media is fascinating. Warren Ellis
(amongst others) took the visual bombast of Hollywood films and channeled it
into so-called "widescreen comics." These comics expanded the visual
language available to comic artists and brought us some interesting stories as
well. This exchange has come full circle with Tim Kring's latest show,
Heroes. Taking inspiration from comics whose inspiration was film, the
show continues the questioning of heroes (and heroic characters) that has been a
staple of storytelling since at least Alan Moore's Watchmen. The show has
been wildly popular, and Universal has now released the show in its second
hi-def incarnation. This release is almost everything a Heroes fan could
ask for.

Facts of the Case

As Heroes: Season 1 (Blu-ray) begins, a group of humans is discovering
that they have powers, including the ability to stop time, fly, and predict the
future, due to a genetic anomaly. As they awaken to their new abilities, it
becomes apparent that New York City is in grave danger, and they must work
together to avert disaster.

Universal presents all 23 episodes of this first season on five discs:

The Evidence

Let's cut to the chase: if you've seen a preview, or are otherwise curious
about Heroes, just watch it. The less you know going in, the more
enjoyable the series is likely to be. Although it's not a perfect show, the mix
of sincerity, humor, excellent acting, and compelling story place it in the top
tier of current television offerings.

The first thing that stands out about Heroes is the compelling
premise. Tying together current trends in genetic research with superhuman
abilities (plus the odd conspiracy theory), the first episode begins in the
middle of the story, and half the fun of this season is putting all the pieces
together. Another plus for the story is the use of real people as the
"heroes." Instead of the too-perfect Superman, or the morally
ambiguous Batman figures, we get normal people, like a cheerleader or a beat
cop, who become gifted (cursed?) with new powers. It's been done before, but the
sheer, continent-spanning scope of the hero characters in the series is
staggering. I was often reminded of Stephen King's The Stand while
watching the show, partly for the apocalyptic overtones, partly for the use of
Las Vegas, but also because both The Stand and Heroes feature
regular people who are asked to do a task which seems impossible, even if they
are gifted.

The range of heroes was also fun to watch. Some of them we've seen before
(mind-reading, time-stopping), but many of them are new, and even the old ones
are presented well. However, I found the non-hero characters where often the
most interesting. For instance, Hiro's friend and traveling companion Ando is a
perfect foil. He's a great audience surrogate, skeptical without being overly
negative. His reasons for travelling with Hiro are never fully explored
(although they are alluded to), which makes him all the more interesting.
Simone, the love interest for several characters, is also surprisingly
effective. Watching her transform from skeptic to believer added significant
emotional weight to the story. I was also impressed by Clea Duvall as Agent
Hanson. Her dedication to catching Sylar despite her lack of powers makes him
seem all the more threatening.

The series also succeeds by putting excellent actors in every role. I was
initially worried about Milo Ventimiglia's key role, since he wasn't given much
to do on Gilmore Girls, but he acquits himself nicely here. Every other
major player is perfectly cast, from Ali Larter as Niki to Masi Oka as Hiro.
However, the highlight (acting-wise) of the series for me was the appearance of
Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) in the middle of the season. He's a
frightfully talented actor, and horribly underutilized. He takes a fairly tired
"teacher" character and makes him shine. Plus, his accent is fun to
listen to.

I'm a sucker for flashback origin episodes. I got hooked on Firefly
with the episode "Out of Gas." Similarly, I got hooked on
Heroes during the episode "Six Months Ago." Kudos to Kring and
his team for not only slowly revealing backstory, but also taking us back to
those critical moments that formed the story arc. Although even this episode
left more questions than answers, I found it made the emotional impact of the
rest of the season much greater and shows a lot of potential for the series to
come.

Finally, fans of the show are in for a treat with the extras on this set.
The one most are going to turn to first is the 73-minute premiere episode to see
how things might have turned out. Kring's commentary will also please fans as he
discusses a number of aspects of the show in detail. There are also a ton of
deleted scenes, most of which add some nice extra moments to the show. I'm not
usually a fan of U-Control style extras, but with a show this complex, the
inclusion of "Hero Connections" helped me keep track of who knew whom
when I went back to sample individual episodes out of order. The
picture-in-picture commentaries contain interesting info, but I'm not a huge fan
of the format: I'd rather see them just as standalone video (or strictly audio).
For fans of standalone featurettes, there are a number of them, and they cover
stunts, scoring, and the special effects. Score one for alliteration. There are
also features on the making of the show, as well as a profile of artist Tim
Sale. From an extras standpoint, this is one of the most impressive box sets
I've ever seen.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

I really enjoyed watching the first season of Heroes; however, it is
not a perfect show. Here are a few things that still bug me:

* Sylar. I think he's lame and overdone. Yes, the idea of a serial killer
targeting heroes is interesting, but there's very little about Sylar to make him
a worthwhile character. The show gives us some of his history later in the
season, and while it helps to develop his character, he's still more
clichéd than fully developed. Hopefully this will change in future
seasons.

* Mohinder's narration. It was often pretentious, overblown, and
unnecessary. The kind of thing that you'd skim in a comic, but since it's being
spoken it's harder to ignore.

* Comic-book origins. Speaking of comics, Heroes obviously owes a
huge debt to the graphic medium. So much so that readers who are familiar with
the work of Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, and Grant Morrison will find the show has
a bit of a "been there, done that" quality.

* The epic storyline. While the huge canvas of the show served it well, it
did occasionally make for tedious viewing. The constant shifting between
interlocking threads was sometimes hard to take. Obviously some characters and
situations are going to be more interesting than others, but there were times
when I was really annoyed that the show took me away from a story I was invested
in and made me watch one I found less interesting.

* The ending. By far this season features the worst finale I've ever seen on
a television show. Twenty-two episodes promise an ending nothing short of heart
stopping, but when it finally arrives, it's completely anti-climactic. When
Episode 23 ended, I was seriously ticked. Yes, the last few minutes set up some
intriguing bits for Season Two, but the ending of Season One's storyline is just
lame. So lame, in fact, that I considered not even bothering with Season
Two.

* The video on this Blu-ray. This is, by far, the most variable transfer
I've seen on any format. Some shots look absolutely stunning, with a massive
amount of fine texture. I'm talking facial hair and beads of sweat looking three
dimensional. Other scenes, however, will be filled with a cloud of noise. It
doesn't seem to be related to special effects, shooting conditions, or film
stock. It's not a total loss, but it was sometimes distracting to watch a scene
through a haze of white dots.

All of these difficulties (save the last one) are a result of the show's
reach exceeding its grasp. Because Heroes aims so high, I'm willing to
forgive these (minor) flaws in favor of the other gains the show makes.

Closing Statement

Even considering my (ardent) displeasure with the season finale,
Heroes provides some stunningly epic television filled with interesting
characters, great acting, and a story that offers lots of opportunity for viewer
investment. There are enough extras to keep even diehard fans busy for days. The
video quality of this release is the only black mark on its record. Yes, the
noise is distracting, but the overall quality is sufficient to make this BD
presentation recommended.

The Verdict

Heroes: Season 1 (Blu-ray) is not guilty. Although they should be
cautioned about future video quality, Universal deserves special commendation
for the generous selection of extras on this high definition release.